Mini Penny Blog

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

A preview...

I've been really awful about keeping you all up to date on my Chicago move. Like I said yesterday, I'm here! I've been so wrapped up with unpacking (and I had my first day at work today) that I haven't been able to do anything for the blog...

As much as I'd love to say that the move went without any hiccups, it didn't. In fact, we had a major hiccup. See, we had been planning to use my dad's truck with a small U-Haul trailer to move all my things. The night before the big move, my parents came and loaded up my boxes into my dad's truck. From there, they headed back home. After a couple of hours I got a phone call — the brakes had gone out on the truck.

Thankfully it happened in my parents' driveway and not on the road, but shucks. That threw a wrench in the plans! We had been expecting to leave Columbus around 6am, but were unable to get a U-Haul moving truck until 7am. From there, my parents had to reload the truck and head back up to Columbus. We didn't get on the road until 11:30 — five and a half hours later than expected! Ouch!

But we did finally get on the road. And a great consequence was that Geoffrey was able to come along!

After six hours, we popped over the Skyway and I could see the skyline — and I was so excited. Chicago has always felt like home to me and now I was finally here!

With the help of mom, dad, and Geoff, we got the boxes and furniture all into my new place really quickly. My building is old, but the apartment is remodeled. While there are a few issues that I have to take up with my landlady, I do really like the place. It's spacious and clean — and there's lots of light!

I got down to business and started painting some furniture. The color? A nice 50s peachy-coral tone!

I have a lot of books and no bookcase, so it took me a moment to figure out how to display/store them. For now I'm using some vintage crates — one large metal one for the big books and stacked wooden ones for the small guys. I actually really love how the stacked crates turned out!

Of course I have to pick out some photos of folks I love and miss back home! Included are Hipstamatic prints, 35mm prints, and Polaroids!

Of course, I had to display my kitty books! I'm missing my little feline friend so much. I like to look through this Cats are Weird book because it explains Kitty to a tee!

Another great thing about this apartment is the closet space. There's an abundance of it, which I haven't had for a very long time. Finally I don't have to cram everything into a super-small space.

Still unpacking in the dining room....

And my kitchen is cute (and has a dishwasher, ahh!), too!

The living room is coming together. I displayed part of my Paint By Number collection and one of mom's quilts on the couch. So cozy and nice!

And perhaps something unexpected is the bathroom. It's extremely well lit (vanity lights) and has vintage blue fixtures and tiles. I'm in love!

So far, so good. I have to give a huge thanks to my mom and dad for all of the awesome help. They're really f'king great. Also, Geoff is just amazing. He helped out so much and I'm happy he got to come along and check out the space. I can't wait for everyone to come visit... and to meet new friends in the city!

Expect more updates soon. I promise to start getting back into the swing of things here in a few days.